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Monday, March 13, 2017

Episode Review - Hard Time (Deep Space Nine, Season 4)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – Chief O’Brien is wrongly accused of
espionage on an alien planet and is sentenced to receive the memories of twenty
years of incarceration. When he returns to the station, the effects of his new
experiences cause him to struggle in his attempt to get his life back together.
As he wrestles with guilt over what he remembers having done, his friends and
family try to support him.

O'Brien finishing his "sentence"

Score: 8/10 – This episode continues the “O’Brien must
suffer” tradition that the writers seemed to have adopted. Of all of the episodes
that torture our beloved Chief of Operations, this one is, in my opinion, the
strongest. Colm Meaney gives a powerful performance that tests his emotional
range and gives us an amazing story of how to recover from trauma. Unlike other
traumatic experiences, this one exists solely in O’Brien’s mind and in some
aspects was not technically “real”. This is a great way of exploring the
effects of such a brutal incarceration without having the character leave the
show for an extended period of time. O’Brien meets Ee’char, a mysterious alien
who happens to be O’Brien’s cell mate. While Ee’char may have only existed in
the Chief’s mind, he is a very real and important character who serves as an
anchor for Miles. Most importantly we see an emotional roller coaster ride for
Miles, ranging into the darker aspects of depression and PTSD. My one criticism
for this episode is that, like so many episodes from this time, the effects of
something like this are never touched on again. I would expect there to be at
least a brief follow-up, but this is 1990s television, where telling a separate
story each week is the norm.

Ee'char

Relevance - 2 points. A point scored for mentioning
O’Brien’s trial on Cardassia from the episode “Tribunal”. A point for the
appearance of Crewman Muniz (his second of three) which furthers his
development as a key member of O’Brien’s team. Since Muniz is going to be
killed in a future episode and his death will have a profound effect on
O’Brien, this episode is meant to help establish Muniz as significant.

Continuity - 3 points. Nothing contradictory in this
episode. Because O’Brien is sentenced and punished so quickly, all the crew can
do is help him out. Everybody acts the way that they would be expected. Worf,
out of honor towards his friend, plays darts with him. Quark, while
appreciating that O’Brien’s life is in shambles, still focuses on his business
first. Sisko shows compassion while being firm. Even Jake gets into the program
by helping Miles brush up on his engineering knowledge. Molly is the typical
kid who doesn’t quite get it, while Keiko shows the dutiful care of the spouse
of a suffering man. Bashir, as both doctor and best friend, shows a great deal
of maturity towards Miles in helping him. Most of all, Miles O’Brien acts the
way our beloved Irishman would act. Story and universe continuity are also good
here.

Character Development – 2 points. A good story often
shows great character development, and this episode is no different. While many
of the characters are shown very briefly (I think Jadzia, Quark, Worf, Jake,
and Odo are only in one scene each), we see a bit of something key in almost every
one. Bashir and Keiko especially get some good moments in as they bear the
largest burden in helping the Chief. There is also the great character of
Ee’char that adds depth to the story. It is Miles O’Brien that gets the
(understandably) majority of the attention and screen time. We see him both
pushed past his limits and then almost to the brink of disaster. For those of
us that have felt so helpless and lost to the point where we are ready to put a
phaser to our chin and end it, it hits close to home. I would argue that this
is one of O’Brien’s most defining episodes, and this is Colm Meaney’s finest
performance.

O'Brien wants a drink immediately.

Social Commentary – 3 points. Post-traumatic
stress disorder is a very real thing and affects many of us in ways that are
difficult for others to understand. This is shown very acutely in this episode.
It drives home the depths of despair that people feel after enduring some
pretty awful stuff. For those of us that have been fortunate enough to have not
experienced major trauma, this gives us some insight into those of us who were
not as lucky.

Bashir finds Miles at the right time

Cool Stuff – 2 points. The method that the Argrathi
method of sentencing a person to experience incarceration without actually
being incarcerated is intriguing to me. A point scored here. Ee’char is also a
fascinating character, so I give a point for him as well.

Two friends helping O'Brien

Rank – Captain (20
points). This
is one of my favourite Deep Space Nine episodes as it does a superb job of
showing the struggles behind PTSD while keeping the emotion real. Kudos to Colm
Meaney for his acting and Alexander Siddig for directing a fine piece of Trek.

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About Me

A mild-manered science teacher who is missing his faithful dog Annie, loving his family, and ruler of his own domain (when life says he can). I love just about anything that is geeky, hate zombie and vampire movies in general, and love country music.